Mistletoe: A Christmas Fiction
by iepidemic
Summary: I know that it's a bit past Christmas, but I wanted to write a story with a bit of drama, including main character Krista and almost all of the improv boys that we love! So how will they celebrate their very different Christmas?
1. Chapter 1

"Babe, I'm only gonna be gone for a few days. Why can't you just be happy for me?" Krista tried to explain again to Jeff.

"I am! But this is Christmas we're talking about. Why don't I just come with you?" he suggested hopefully.

She continued to pack her duffel bag and watched her boyfriend drain another scotch. "This is the first time in years that we'll all be together and I'm actually invited. I want to bring you but my family doesn't really like… people."

"I'll be back on December 26th, okay? Besides, aren't you spending Christmas with your family?" The question brought a flicker of sadness across his face, barely noticeable unless you knew him.

"Nah, they don't wanna see little ol' me, mostly because I wanted to see you," he said through a twisted pout. Krista only half-believed him, but let it be.

"Now darling, to the airport we go!" He picked up her bag, giving her a sweet, alcohol tinged kiss.

"I think I'll drive," she laughed as she took the keys away. Jeff shrugged and sat in the passenger seat.

The ride there wasn't long, despite how it felt. For some reason he was unusually quiet and it was very unsettling. They pulled up to the drop-off curb and she put the car in park.

"I'm going to miss you baby," Jeff said in all sincerity. His hand gently touched her thigh, his fingers wandering along it. Krista put her hand on his cheek and caressed it, knowing how hard it would be for the both of them.

"I'm going to miss you too." After that, words escaped her, and none seemed to be needed. She felt him bring her head in closer, then their lips met and melted together. This wasn't demanding, it wasn't lust or desire. It was what was never said- love.

"I have to go," Krista whined. Jeff held her hand and squeezed it, making her smile.

"I'm probably gonna hang out with Chip tonight anyways," he replied, helping her out of the car.

"Replacing me already?" she teased.

"Well he is single now… I'm kidding, calm down," he finished, seeing her eyebrows raised.

"Have a great time with your family." Jeff gave her one last kiss and watched her leave.

He drove home and saw a familiar car in the driveway. He couldn't help but smile as he opened the door to his condo and found his friend already there.

"Ever the sneaky one, are we?" Jeff sat down next to Chip, who'd helped himself to a beer.

"The door was unlocked, genius. Anyways, did you already drop Krista off?"

Jeff grinned once more and took Chip's beer from him and greedily gulped down the last half of it. "Sure did. Looks like you're stuck here with me." Chip glared at the empty bottle but it technically was his after all. "Not like you're any disappointment, Mr. Davis," he chuckled.

"Oh? And what's that supposed to mean?" Jeff leaned back, biting the inside of his cheek to keep that goofy smile from returning. "Depends, what are you interpreting it as?" Chip retaliated.

The two of them laughed and each remembered why they were best friends in the first place. "So… what are you doing for Christmas? Are you still spending it with your family? I mean now that…" Jeff trailed off awkwardly.

"Now that Patty's gone? Yeah I would, but she decided that she'd take the kids across five states to see their grandparents, and she happened to conveniently forget to tell me. So no, I'm not spending it with my family," Chip sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and took another deep breath.

"Anyways, what about you? You always spend holidays with your family." Now it was Jeff's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Nah, they just got busy is all. No time for Jeff." Chip gave him an unmistakable look. "Seriously. What happened? You can tell me dude, it's not like I'm not in the shit myself."

Jeff looked somewhat surprised at the language, because it wasn't like him to say stuff like that. Then again, it wasn't like him to be alone on such a family-oriented holiday. Still, he tried to play it off. "It's nothing, really. My family and I just aren't on the best terms."

"Why do I get the feeling that there's more to it than that?" Chip prodded him on gently.

"It's nothing," he repeated, getting stern.

"There's something that you're not telling me."

"Then there has to be a reason for it."

"Jeff, what could be so bad that you're afraid to say?"

"It's. Nothing," he growled.

"Is it something that they did? I mean—"

"THEY TOLD ME NOT TO BOTHER, ALRIGHT? They said they didn't wanna see me, that I should just go on with my stupid life of 'show business'. I would be a bad influence on Maddox, or whatever." Jeff's hands were now clenched into fists and he was avoiding all eye contact.

Chip's mouth was gaping slightly, shocked at the confession. "Are you serious? Where did that come from?"

Jeff laughed bitterly. "I showed up really drunk when I was supposed to take care of Maddox. Then another time I said that I had a show to do and I couldn't get together with the rest of the family. Just the little things like that, and they told me this year that I wasn't invited and just shouldn't show up."

"It'll probably pass, I wouldn't worry—"

"I don't need any advice, Chip. I'm fine." Jeff got up and went to the kitchen, grabbing two beers from the fridge and giving one to his friend.

"Well at least you aren't the only one by himself on Christmas."

"I'll drink to that," Jeff replied and clinked the bottle with Chip's. "How about you and I go out to a bar, get trashed?"

Chip grinned and shook his hand. "I like the sound of that."

4 shots, 2 scotches, and 3 beers later, the men stumbled into Jeff's condo. "Oh dude, I am haaaaaaaaammered," Chip chortled, throwing himself onto the couch before gravity could do it for him.

"To bachelors on Christmas!" Jeff cheered, following Chip's example and falling almost on top of him. "You're n-not single," Chip reminded him.

"Do you see my girlfriend here? I sure don't! So… so it's like I'm single," he answered, getting closer to his friend and putting and arm around his shoulders. "Pshh, good enough for me!" Chip laughed. "You're reaaaaally close!"

Jeff moved even closer to emphasize it. "What's wrong with being close? Besides, you're awful cuddly." He hooked one of his feet over Chip's, who didn't move away, but looked hesitant.

"Yeah, that happens sometimes," Chip said, absentmindedly toying with Jeff's jet-black hair. "It's not even Christmas Eve yet and we're already celebrating."

"Imagine what that would entail," Jeff purred. They looked at each other for a moment before Chip spoke. "What did you have in mind?"

A devilish grin appeared on his face. "Nothing too fancy. Just hanging out with you, doin' whatever."

"I think I'd like that very much," he murmured.

Before either could say anymore, Jeff pressed against Chip and kissed him deep, his fingers getting entangled in that dark brown hair of his. Chip returned it and without thinking, opened his mouth when he felt Jeff's tongue pressed against his lips.

They were locked together, hands travelling and exploring, tongues swirling around with the other. Jeff used his teeth to tug at Chip's bottom lip with just enough pressure to make him moan under his breath. In response, he laid scorching kisses along his jaw, nipping at the younger man's neck.

"What the fuck?" They pulled apart and stared in the direction that the shrill cry from.

Krista.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wait, why are you here?" Bitter tears stung Krista's eyes as she responded. "Does it fucking matter? Jeff… talk to me, tell me what's going on with you." Chip finally spoke up.

"It was my fault. We're drunk and I was complaining about my divorce… he was just trying to help." A silence fell over the three of them, each waiting to see what would happen next.

"I'll go," Chip muttered, mustering up the strength to stand. Krista cut him off before he could leave. "You know what? No. I'm just going to leave you two alone to sort yourselves out or even continue what the fuck you're doing. I need to cool off." Jeff remained quiet, a rare occasion.

"I'm sorry." He didn't look up; his hands were now twisting nervously. Krista walked up to him and a flurry of emotions came over her at once. She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Figure this out, okay?" She kissed Chip's forehead.

Krista walked out of the room without another word, not looking back. Where was she going to go? So ever faithfully, she walked down to the local, seedy bar. She sat down and ordered a margarita. As she took her first sips, she noticed two men walk in the nearly empty pub. The taller one's face lit up as their eyes met.

"Krista!" It was Ryan, who quickly lowered the arm he had around Colin. "Hey guys, what's up?" The two shared a smug smile and responded eagerly. "Boys night out, away from the wives. How about you?"

"It's a long story, and not one for tonight." Colin shrugged and motioned to the seats beside her. "May we join you?" She agreed and they pulled up a stool beside each other, Ryan ordering them both a beer. "You seem to be missing a stud in a suit tonight," he brought up casually.

Krista bit the inside of her cheek and finished her drink quickly. "Let's just say the house is his tonight. Or maybe it isn't… but whatever." Ryan raised his eyebrows and mouthed words to Colin, who responded in the same manner, them having their own dialogue no one else understood.

"Well listen, this is our last day in the town before we go up to meet our wives and families in Canada. Why don't you just stay with us in our hotel room?" Colin asked gently, smiling up at her. Krista instantly returned it. "Really?" Ryan repeated her response to Colin, earning him a nudge in the side.

"Sure," he went on, "it's not a problem, as long as you don't mind the pull-out bed." She shook her head. "That's fine, thank you." All three of them spent the next couple of hours talking, catching up, and laughing. Soon, Krista forgot all about stupid, drunk, Jeff.

"Alright, well lets head out, it's getting' late," Ryan said as he paid for everyone's drinks. "Feeling old, are we?" Colin teased. "You're never too old to drink. You just gotta do it faster because you get tired." As they exited the bar, Krista noticed once again that Ryan's arm was around Colin protectively. She said nothing, no matter how curious.

The ride to the hotel wasn't like riding in a car with Jeff; this felt comfortable and friendly, rather than childish and words unsaid.

"Here we are!" Ryan announced, opening the cab door for the other two. "So… why only one room?" Krista finally worked up the courage to ask.

"Ah, just him being cheap to pay for airfare," Colin replied hesitatingly, Ryan suppressing a smirk and rolling his eyes.

"Home sweet home." Colin put the key in the door and let them in. "Oh Krista… you don't have any other clothes with you," Ryan noticed. "It's okay, I can just sleep in this… actually, I think I'm just gonna hit they hay. Night guys, and thanks again." She gave them both a kiss on the cheek and hopped into the newly transformed bed, anxious to forget the events of today.

She lay on the lumpy mattress with her eyes closed, but not before catching the men laying next to each other on top of the covers on one of the other beds.

"Always the caretaker, aren't we?" Ryan asked, semi-jokingly. His friend chuckled, leaning into the other. "I guess I just know what it's like to be in her position."

Now this was news to him. "What do you mean?" Ryan felt protective of him once again, and without realizing it had placed his large hand over Colin's. "Oh it's nothing," he replied, laughing it off.

"No really, what happened?" Ryan insisted. Colin sat silent and caught his fingers playing with his friend's, but chose not to do anything about it. Ryan always made him feel so… secure. "My wife has just been arguing with me over little things. Once she said that I was more affectionate with you than I was with her. And my response to that might have been a little less than appropriate."

Ryan hid his smug grin and pressed on. "What did you say?"

Colin blushed. "It was nothing, I don't even remember now. I just said it without thinking." The taller man looked at him skeptically. "I've known you forever; I can tell when you're lying to me." He gave him a prodding glance, and Colin sighed.

"She… she likes you, but feels like you're taking me away from her. Even back when we would kiss on Whose Line, she was uncomfortable. So when I said that I'd rather spend time with you, she wasn't really happy about that." Ryan was taken aback slightly at the confession and scrambled to find the right words.

"Well I mean, if it would help, I could always just stay away from you for a bit," he forced himself to say.

Colin immediately shook his head. "That's not what I want though. I don't want to have t-to choose." Both of them were breathing deep, lost in a fog of thought and confusion. "I don't even know if I'd be able to choose," he muttered.

"I care about you man, and I don't want to be someone that you resent for fucking up your life, indirectly or not." The shorter man rolled his eyes. "Us hanging out together should not be a deal-breaker. Besides, kissing isn't really a big deal. "

The corners of Ryan's lips perked up into that smirk that Colin knew and loved oh so well. "Exactly. Things will work out, don't worry about it. At least not now."

"Yeah, putting off the inevitable usually works," Colin said before he could stop himself.

Ryan turned to face him, their eyes having an entire conversation and holding so much that was unsaid. He cupped Colin's face with one hand and leaned in, his soft lips on top of the troubled man's. He was gentle, caring. They didn't break the kiss and got close to each other. When they did finally separate, neither spoke for a few tense seconds.

Ryan then shrugged and shamelessly grinned like an idiot.

"Just putting off the inevitable."


	3. Chapter 3

Krista's cell phone buzzed loudly, waking her up from her deep rest. Groggily, she answered the call, not checking to see who it was from.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Hey, are you hungry?" a voice she recognized to be Jeff's asked.

Krista glanced at the clock beside her and rubbed her eyes. "Jeff, I literally just woke up. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to like… grab a bite to eat or something. Get a pizza and talk things over?"

The line was quiet for a minute before she finally spoke again. "It's 11 in the morning, Jeff."

"No, no, I know. I-I mean it doesn't have to be pizza, it can be um, whatever you'd like, but… but I just thought th-that maybe we should… should take some time to try and work this out."

She couldn't help but chuckle softly at her boyfriend stumbling over his words and stuttering, because it was terribly cute of him. Krista sat up in bed and took a deep breath.

"Alright, sounds fine. I'll meet you at home tonight." She hung up the phone and didn't give Jeff time to respond, not feeling like answering any of his questions of where she was and what she was up to. She liked to think that he owed her that, at least. And him not calling back to inquire further only proved her own point.

While Jeff waited for the rest of this dreadful day to pass, he decided that now would be a good time to maybe go and pay a visit to Chip. He sent him a quick text before driving over to his apartment.

"It's open," he hollered from inside when Jeff got up to his door. He poked his head inside and slowly walked in, realizing that he couldn't remember the last time he'd been to Chip's place… and that it was kind of a pigsty.

"Sorry about the mess," his friend said, as if he'd read Jeff's mind. "I just haven't really been thinking about it lately. Anyways, what's up? Did you call Krista this morning?"

The two leaned on a countertop next to each other and it felt like nothing had changed. "Yeah, yeah," Jeff muttered. "Things should be fine. Are you… are you okay? I mean, after what happened last night."

Chip's eyes briefly flickered up before his gaze fell back to the floor. "Sure, why wouldn't I be? Are you?"

"Yeah, it's alright. But listen, I just want you to know th-that what had happened…" His friend cut him off. "Seriously, don't worry about it."

"But I will worry about it. I don't want it to seem like I was leading you on, because I mean in reality-"

"In reality, nothing could happen. You have a girlfriend, and we're too close of friends anyways."

"Chip, if you'd let me finish, I-"

"You don't need to, it's fine. I'm not mad at you or blaming you, so it's whatev-"

Before Chip could say anymore, he found that his lips were now enveloped by Jeff's. He leaned into the kiss and felt the younger man's hand on the back of his neck and pulling him in tenderly. When they broke apart, Jeff was the first to speak.

"I care about you, a lot. Hell, if it wasn't for Krista right now, I don't know where we'd be. But we've been best friends for as long as I could remember, and right now, I just need that. I'm not saying that if I was ever single, I wouldn't think about it… but I'm sorry."

Chip now was truly speechless, and couldn't even bring himself to say something, anything, as he watched his friend walk out the door without so much as looking back. His thoughts were racing and everywhere at once, but one question stood out.

_How did he know exactly how I feel?_

Ryan and Colin had dropped Krista off back at her house, both wishing her good luck and then leaving to meet their families. She knocked and walked in to find her boyfriend exactly where she'd left him last night.

"Um… hey Jeff. How are you?" she asked hesitatingly. He looked up at her and a ghost of a smile passed across his face.

"Great," he lied. "Do you wanna sit down?" He patted the couch cushion beside him and made room, a box of pizza already sitting on the coffee table in front of them. As Krista sat down, she looked away awkwardly, feeling Jeff do the same thing.

He suddenly grabbed your hand and gently turned her toward him. "Listen, I don't know what you want me to say. I'm sorry, alright? I just wasn't thinking straight." She brought her bright blue eyes to meet his deep brown ones, and there was something that she saw in that moment that seemed… different, but in a good way.

"Was I not enough for you? Did I do something wrong?" Krista asked with a breaking voice, internally cursing her body for betraying her.

"No! You are the only one I want to be with." Jeff moved closer and used his thumb to wipe away the stray tears that running down her pale cheeks.

She scoffed but didn't pull away from his embrace. "That isn't something to be said lightly." Krista didn't know how to really react to this and thinking though it logically was becoming a pain. "What do you want me to say?" she sighed in defeat.

Jeff ran his fingers through your hair, kissing your temple and laying his free arm around your waist. "Say whatever you want. Say whatever feels right. Don't say anything at all or talk until you're too tired to talk anymore. Just be you, because that's the woman that I love."

As soon as those words left his mouth, they kissed each other passionately; driven by the desire they'd shared for so long. No thoughts were necessary because there was nothing else in this world except for the feelings and emotions happening now, growing ever-lustful.

He readjusted his legs so that they were both on the couch and began to slowly lean Krista flat on her back, one of Jeff's hands entangled in her hair and the other arm supporting him on top, so he wouldn't crush her.

Jeff knew exactly what to do to make her melt; each scorching nibble down her neck elicited a quiet moan and each hot word breathed in her ear made her simply purr in anticipation. He brought her back into a gentle yet possessive kiss and loved the feeling of cool air hitting his skin as Krista undid all the buttons to his suit.

"I take it you're not still mad at me?" he half-chuckled as he slid off her shirt.

"Cheeky, aren't you?" she retaliated, letting her nails rake softly down his sides and rubbing the inside of his thighs. Jeff growled in frustration and unhooked her bra, licking from her collarbones down her chest, her back arching and pressing her even more against him.

Krista found herself grinding against her boyfriend, who instinctively did the same. Jeff's hands cupped her breasts and bit down on her neck harder, just enough so that a loud groan of pleasure escaped.

Jeff unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off, now tugging at the boy shorts that she wore and thrusting his hips on top of her. Krista then spoke up before he could go any farther.

"Wait." She ignored Jeff's frustrated growl and continued. "Did you hear the grandfather clock? It's Christmas." A giddy smile played at her lips as Krista kissed him lovingly. Jeff returned it and rested his forehead against hers, their breathing in sync.

"So, I guess it's just you and me today?" Jeff grinned, licking her nose. Krista giggled and rested her hands on his strong shoulders.

"Well… we really should invite Chip over, at least for part of the day," she told him.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Babe, he has other friends. And besides, what about what just happened yesterday?"

"I know, but you're his closest one! And I wasn't mad at him," she said, playfully hitting his arm. "Please? You can have me all day, just let Chip come and have Christmas with us tonight." She batted her eyelashes in the way she knew Jeff couldn't resist.

"Fine," he groaned. "You're awful stubborn, you know that?" She kissed him in response.

"Yep! Just… no mistletoe around the house, okay?" Jeff actually turned a bit red at the request, causing Krista to laugh. "You're adorable."

He stuck out his bottom lip. "I'm not adorable," he insisted.

Jeff could almost feel her smirk against his neck, and at that moment, something clicked. He brought up her gaze and looked her in the eyes, things suddenly feeling more serious.

"Krista?" he breathed.

"Yeah?"

"I really do love you. Merry Christmas."


End file.
